Epson America Inc. (Torrance, Calif.)

In the early 1980s, Epson tried to leverage its success in the printer business with a line of business microcomputers. Unfortunately, it made the mistake of creating a new operating system for the computers just as MS-DOS was becoming established.

Valdocs (Valuable Documents)–used only on the QX-10 and QX-16–was part operating system, part application suite. Epson’s goal was to create an easy-to-use business computer with the menu structure of Valdocs and special keyboard commands for common functions. Valdocs, which was similar to CP/M, won over many users, but not enough. Also, the Z80A did not deliver the processing power the Valdocs demanded.

The QX-16 added a 16-bit 8088 processor to go with the Z80A used in the QX-10 and bundled three operating systems with the computer.

Epson wisely followed the QX-16 with a line of PC-compatible desktop systems called the Equity I. In March 1987, Epson introduced an enhanced version of the Equity I, the Equity I+, which used a faster (10MHz) version of the 8088 CPU and provided five expansion slots. An Equity II+ followed in 1988 with a 12MHz 80286 CPU. Equity systems sold reasonably well and are relatively common finds today.

The company also had some success with portable computers, starting with the HX-20 notebook in 1982. The HX-20 played a key role in an infamous prank during the 1984 Rose Bowl game. Two CalTech students used an HX-20 and an RF modem to take control of the electronic scoreboard and write their own messages during the game. They also changed the team names for the final score from UCLA and Illinois to CalTech and MIT. An HX-40 followed that was faster, more expandable, and larger, but it was sold only to value-added resellers–middlemen who would configure and develop specialized applications for the system for resale to businesses.

The Geneva PX-8 took advantage of the Tandy TRS-80 Model 100’s success with a somewhat improved design, including more memory. In the late 1980s and into the 1990s, Epson sold a series of PC-compatible laptops and notebooks that as of yet have little or no collector value.